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Chapter Five~ Andi and Ross

I wasn't sure what to say to him. I meant to lock him from my heart. He was a traitor to the country. He was a criminal. I put myself and my family in danger simply by association. He had to know the danger he'd put me in. Yet, he'd told me about his rebellion and made me an accomplice. He didn't deserve my affections. He didn't deserve my silence, but that I gave to him. He'd get nothing more from me.

And yet, that meek little voice wanted nothing more than to call out to him, to apologize. I wanted to beg him to abandon his treasons so that I could be with him once more, but he wouldn't.

I thought of that spiral notebook he'd brought me, the gorgeous cover in my favorite color. Why had he bothered to not only check on me, but to buy me a brand new notebook? That much I needed to know.

Mindful of my family in the kitchen, I opened the front door, holding out a hand so that Ander wouldn't leave. After mentally counting to thirty, I slammed the door shut. My parents undoubtedly heard that. I motioned for Ander to follow me quietly up the stairs.

He'd never been to my house. I'd never allowed it. Our rendezvous had always taken place where we knew we couldn't be caught. Sometimes in a locked closet during a bustling night on campus, sometimes at Ander's house when he was certain his family wouldn't be home. Never my house. It was too frequently occupied, and I was petrified Dad would find out. It was strange having Ander in my room.

I watched him survey everything, from the white curtains drawn tightly shut, to the posters of Carthowa Campus and the Patrione.

"Hot in here." Ander flipped on my large fan, cranking it to its highest setting, despite the low climate of my bedroom. He rolled his eyes at my orange Trujohn flag. The only thing in my room Ander seemed to approve of was my vast shelf of history books. He surveyed it for several moments before raising an eyebrow. "Nothing from the Before, of course."

I didn't answer. Of course none of them were from the Before. Books from the Before were banned. All that hadn't been taken into the Great Father's personal library had been burned.

Ander smirked at a tiny pair of boxer shorts on the floor. "I take it those aren't yours?"

I wrinkled my nose. "I had my room confiscated. Toddlers aren't particularly tidy. I'm just glad Jim hasn't completely trashed the place."

He shrugged and continued to scan my room.

My agitation quickly grew. Him studying everything I owned... I felt exposed. What the hell is he doing?

When he moved to open one of my drawers I lost it. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Ander stepped back quickly, hands in the air. "Sorry. Probably personal. But come on, Jeaniboo, you know why I'm here."

"Don't call me Jeaniboo." It had been his pet name for me. Now he was saying it as if we were still together. "And no. I don't. If you're not revealing me to my family, I can't think of a single reason why the fuck you'd be here."

He stared at me for a moment. It seemed he truly expected me to know why he was in my house. "How about you weren't answering my instatexts and you refused to call me back and I needed to know you were okay."

"Of course I'm okay," I grumbled. "Didn't it occur to you that I was ignoring your instatexts because you're a dick springing shit on me?"

"Yes, it did," Ander admitted, far calmer than I was. "But it also occurred to me that you might have been taken or attacked or something, and it would have been my fault for not insisting on driving you home."

"I was fine," I snapped. "Instead of jumping to crazy what-ifs you could just assume I was fine."

"I can't assume anything of the sort," he argued. "You've seen the news. There's kidnappings every day. On average there are forty plus men, woman, or children kidnapped or assaulted on a daily basis. The highest percentage by far are young women. I wasn't going to take the chance and just hope you were okay when I had no clue how else to verify."